Emerging Technologies

Advancing innovation to increase availability of energy-efficient products and services

New energy efficiency products enter the marketplace on a regular basis. We are constantly working with manufacturers and retailers to conduct rigorous testing in order to determine which technologies are viable and can deliver significant long-term savings to the region. These reports represent our latest in-progress findings. You can view and search all of our reports below, or you can connect with us to receive regular updates when a new report is released.

This is a clothes dryer laboratory test procedure used to calculate an accurate metric for clothes dryer energy use. The procedure describes the different cycles, settings, clothing types and equipment needed to generate the combined energy metric referred to as the Utility Combined Energy Factor (UCEF). The resulting UCEF is based on the field test validated weighting for the five laboratory tests. The resulting test procedure more fully accounts for real world use conditions by testing dryers in a variety of operational modes with a test load composed of realistic test articles.

Water heating represents approximately 18 percent of residential energy consumption annually. Heat pump water heaters (HPWHs) offer an efficient option for residential water heating, because they have the ability to reduce water heating energy consumption by up to 63 percent. To achieve such high efficiencies, HPWHs employ a refrigeration cycle to move heat from the ambient air into water stored in a tank. When HPWHs are in conditioned space, they remove heat from the conditioned air.
This study conducted during the winter of 2016 - 2017 provides an objective evaluation of the space conditioning interactions between a HPWH and the heating system in several locations throughout a home to investigate the impact that HPWHs have on space conditioning loads.
We have always known there was an interactive effect with home heating systems. This study provides a detailed look at how much and the findings show that there is less interaction effect than we originally thought.

Laboratory and field studies sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Bonneville Power Administration and others demonstrate that the use of window attachments can lead to significant heating and cooling building energy savings.
This report: Provides a summary of commercially available window attachments in the market and characterizes these attachments in terms of energy efficiency, savings potential, and other functional attributes applicable to the northwestern states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. Provides a summary of the research findings related to window attachments and energy savings. Examines the barriers to market and utility program acceptance of high-efficiency window attachments, and identifies opportunities to transform the market for window attachments in the Northwest.

Heat pump clothes dryers are significantly more energy efficient than conventional (ENERGY STAR®) electric resistance clothes dryers. The goal of this project was to determine whether heat pump clothes dryers offer non-energy benefits—specifically, reduced clothing wear and tear—that could help consumer adoption. Multiple machine types ran over 100 dryer cycles, using loads specifically chosen to reflect a variety of fabric and fiber types. This project did not conclusively find that heat pump clothes dryers cause less wear than conventional dryers. However, the project was able to show that they do not cause more wear than conventional ENERGY STAR dryers. This project was a co-funded effort lead by Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance with Pacific Gas and Electric.
Over drying is a common occurrence in clothes dryers which are not ENERGY STAR certified and that do not have good automatic termination controls. This report contains an addendum to the Clothing Wear and Tear of Heat Pump vs. Electric Resistance Clothes Dryers study that investigated relative wear impact of heat pump clothes dryers compared to ENERGY STAR dryers. In this project additional cycles tested whether over drying from a conventional dryer caused additional clothing wear. The cycles were set to replicate the equivalent over drying that would occur in a dryer which is not ENERGY STAR certified over the course of 1-2 years. The project did not find statistically significant incremental damage to clothing from moderate over drying.

The measurement method of television energy consumption has been largely consistent within the United States for the last decade. TVs have improved remarkably in energy efficiency during that time. It is important to understand how much of those apparent energy savings are the result of fundamental improvements to TV technology itself versus optimizing how TVs perform under the specific conditions of the test procedure.
Early in 2016 Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) recognized that a substantial body of emerging research was pointing to serious flaws in the current U.S. TV test procedure and energy use assumptions. As a result, NEEA commissioned this research and report to better understand how to improve the test procedure, what qualities a new test clip should possess, and how to make progress toward an optimal long-term test procedure in the interim to better inform current labeling and incentive programs.

High upfront costs and a lack of easily accessible financing are key barriers to investments in energy efficiency (EE). This report assessed EE financing barriers and opportunities for small utilities, relying on interviews, literature reviews and case studies. Key barriers identified include: lack of staff time, lack of access to low-cost capital, and inability to serve those most in need of financing. The report highlights a range of potential solutions that small utilities could pursue to make EE financing programs more scalable, sustainable and equitable.

Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance commissioned a study to delineate the characteristics of 18 dimming systems as part of its Luminaire Level Lighting Control initiative. In theory, adjusting the light level by dimming 15 percent at the control station will have that intended effect (light level or power consumption reduction) at the light source or driver. In practice, this rarely happens. The study found that each ballast’s response to a linear control signal input varied and was not linear. The variances ranged from minor (plus/minus 2 percent) to significant (plus/minus 18 percent). This has implications for utilities in forecasting the anticipated energy savings of a lighting control system.

As part of our work on efficient homes, NEEA developed a case study on a Thermal Break Shear, an innovative wall assembly recently used in a zero-net-energy subdivision in Washington County, Oregon. This study demonstrates the opportunity for significant energy savings in a simple, low-cost assembly that offers additional benefits such as seismic tolerance while satisfying the requirements of the structural code.

The data center market continues to evolve at a rapid rate. Embedded data spaces are consolidating as rack density increases and information technology performance increases. Physical data center footprints are shrinking and growing business demands are putting more pressure on data center managers to deliver more, with fewer resources. At the same time, decision-making related to energy efficiency is complex; decisions occur at the speed of business requirements, the level of sophistication in the market varies dramatically, and the subject matter is highly technical.
The findings from this research suggest that the following three market interventions have the highest success potential related to energy efficiency in embedded data centers: exploration and refinement of prescriptive measures, including efficient servers, utilization and/or virtualization, and efficient uninterruptible power supplies; a website “clearinghouse” specific to embedded data centers that would serve as an unbiased source of information related to energy efficiency and function as a gateway to link customers to contractors and utility incentives; and promotion of efficient colocation data centers (or “Cloud Services”) and incentivized movement of the data center function from the smaller and less efficient data center to the larger and more efficient colocation data center.
Other avenues for market intervention include aligning with existing initiatives, such as NEEA’s commercial sector efforts. NEEA’s current position is to encourage utilities to address this load by either custom measures and or targeted measure programs.

This report provides data and conclusions about the actual performance of different types of ventilation systems as installed and operated in relatively airtight homes. Overall, this study found that total ventilation is not a determining factor in ventilation effectiveness. A key factor is the ventilation delivered to each occupied space. This is coupled with a number of other influencing factors such as house size, occupant density, airtightness, and the presence of a whole house air circulation system such as central forced air. Other factors that affect ventilation performance include humidity, home occupant education and type of heating system.

This report summarizes the findings of a lab and field test study for Mitsubishi’s prototype Ductless Heat Pump Plus H2O product. This product combines a ductless heat pump with a heat pump water heater into a single, integrated product. Tests showed very good performance in terms of energy efficiency and cold weather capacity. In addition, this report describes a number of planned and recommended product enhancements that could result in performance improvements, particularly in water heating.

Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance intends to encourage Secondary Glazing System (SGS) manufacturers to measure the performance of their products using industry standard simulation or testing. This effort will allow building owners and design teams to effectively compare available product performance with consistent baseline conditions.
The Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory conducted this study to simulate and physically validate thermal and solar performance characteristics of seven window attachment Secondary Glazing Systems. This report introduces new methodology and software capabilities where industry standard practices do not exist, such as condensation resistance. It also evaluates the annual energy savings and condensation potential of all SGS systems in prototype commercial buildings.

Today NEEA releases its report titled “Opportunities for Action on Energy Management Information Systems for Industrial Customers: A Report for Program Administrators.” This report helps NEEA's funders and other program administrators determine how to move forward with energy management information systems (EMIS) with their industrial customers. It offers ideas for the future as well as immediate next steps for program administrators.
This publication builds on NEEA’s Inventory of Industrial Energy Management Information Systems (EMIS) for M&V Applications, and on two new guides - the Guide to Selecting an EMIS and the Guide to Using an EMIS. The first guide helps customers determine if EMIS is right for them, and advises how to select an EMIS tool. The second helps customers implement and use EMIS effectively in their organizations.

Ductless split system air conditioners and heat pumps exist primarily in Europe and Asia. In North America, ductless air conditioners and heat pumps were a small niche market until the early 2000s, but have been gaining in market share since that time. This study assessed international DHP markets to determine how international experience can enhance market uptake of this technology in the Northwestern United States.

In an effort to transform the residential space heating market in the Northwest, the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) has focused on promoting inverter-driven ductless heat pumps (DHPs) as a promising technology for displacing electric resistance heat. The market for this technology is evolving rapidly. The key objectives of this study are to identify relevant market segments in the Northwest, and quantify the maximum technical potential for displacing electric resistance heating in each segment. This study also identifies current market barriers and likely market adoption issues for standard DHPs as well as other related specialized equipment in the Northwest. It forecasts the likely total displacement of electric resistance heating by standard and specialized DHPs over the next 20 years under different market adoption scenarios.

Resource Spotlight

Resource Spotlight

Emerging Tech Pilot Map

The region is working together to bring emerging technologies to consumers more reliably and faster than any one organization could do alone.Explore our Emerging Technologies Map for details on the alliance’s emerging technology activities across the region.

Video Spotlight

Filling the Pipeline

NEEA scans the market to identify emerging technologies, then works with Northwest utilities, public interest groups, manufacturers, retailers, and industry associations to bring these technologies to market.